Russell Crowe's New Western Is His Best-Reviewed Movie Since 1999

Building on the success of last year's Nuremberg, which exceeded box-office expectations and emerged as a major hit on the home-video market, Russell Crowe has delivered two new movies back-to-back. The first happens to be his best-reviewed film in nearly three decades, while the second is among the lowest-rated films that he has ever starred in. Surprisingly, the less-liked of the two appears to have emerged as the bigger hit, having claimed the number-one spot on the global Netflix chart shortly after its release this past Friday. Meanwhile, Crowe's critically acclaimed Western, which was released theatrically a week earlier, has now dropped out of the top 10 list at the domestic box office.

The more recent Netflix title, of course, is Unabomber. Directed by Janus Metz, the film unfolds in two timelines. The first follows the infamous Ted Kaczynski as a student at Harvard University, where he participates in a series of tests conducted by a psychology professor. The second timeline revolves around Kaczynski's manhunt decades later, conducted by an FBI agent played by Shailene Woodley. Unabomber now holds a 19% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. However, according to FlixPatrol, it remains the number-one hit on Netflix both domestically and worldwide.

'The Weight' Is Russell Crowe's Best-Reviewed Movie Since 1999

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On the other hand, Crowe's acclaimed theatrical release, The Weight, holds a "Certified Fresh" 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's his best-reviewed film on the aggregator since The Insider, which was released in 1999. Rotten Tomatoes' consensus for the movie, which also features Ethan Hawke, reads, "The Weight turns a stripped-down tale of desperation into a gripping, hard-hitting thriller, elevated by Ethan Hawke's magnetic performance and Padraic McKinley's assured direction." The movie grossed $2.3 million in its first weekend and, according to Deadline, was no longer in the domestic top 10 list by its second frame. This weekend's top 10 list was rounded out by the sleeper hit Coyote vs. Acme and the biblical tale Daniel and the Fiery Furnace.